Bathing garment for men



Feb. 25, 1958 v. B. CLINTON BATHING GARMENT FOR MEN Filed Oct. 21. 1953' uvmvron. VERNON a. CLINTON nited States Patent O BATHING GARMENT FOR MEN Vernon B. Clinton, New York, N. Y., assignor to Cluett, Peabody & Co., Inc., Troy, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application October 21, 1953, Serial N0. 387,427

1 Claim. (Cl. 128159) This invention relates to a bathing garment for men, of the type commonly called swim trunks."

An object of the invention is to provide an improved bathing garment of the type which may be placed on or removed from a person while he is dressed or wearing substantial outer clothing, which may be quickly and easily applied to or removed from a person by simple operations, with which the danger that the coupling means between the sections of the garment may become accidentally or unintentionally detached is substantially eliminated, which will be comfortable to the wearer, which may include therein a practical and elfective supporter element, and which will be relatively simple, practical and inexpensive.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved bathing garment which may be made from two separately formed panels, permanently connected only through the crotch portion, and the sides of which may be detachably coupled and uncoupled in a simple manner.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of an embodiment of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claim. In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a front'elevation of a bathing garment constructed in accordance with this invention;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the same;

Fig. 4 is a plan of the same uncoupled in a position ready to be applied to ones body;

Fig. 5 is a transverse, sectional elevation through one of the side seams of the same, the section being taken approximately along the line 55 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevation of that portion of the same indicated by the dash line circle in Fig. 3; and

Fig. 7 is a plan similar to Fig. 4, but with the supporter element fully illustrated and portions of the panels cut away.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the garment includes a front panel 1 and a rear panel 2, which are connected together at the crotch by a seam 3. Each of these panels may be formed of two pieces of fabric or sub panels secured together along a seam 4 in the front panel, and a seam 5 in the rear panel. The edges of the subpanels which are connected at the scams 4 or 5 may vary slightly from a straight line to an arcuate line in order to give shape to the rear panel, and thus provide a panel which more effectively and snugly conforms to the shape of the particular portion of the body against which it fits. The upper edge 6 of this garment is approximately at the waist of the wearer and the garment extends downwardly around the thighs and a short distance around the legs of the wearer.

The front panel 1 terminates at its upper end edge in a waistband portion or section 7, and the rear panel also terminates at its upper end edge in a waistband section 8. These waistband sections are formed by a wide hem in the fabric of which the panel is formed. One of the panels, such as the front panel, is provided at each end of the waistband section with a tab or tongue 9 which extends in an overlapping relation with the adjacent ends of the waistband section of the other panel. In this particular instance, the front panel is preferably provided with the tabs 9. These tabs extend rearwardly and overlap the adjacent ends of the waistband section of the rear panel.

The tabs at their free ends are detachably coupled to the waistband section of the other panel, such as by having each tab provided with a buttonhole 10, which is detachably couple-d with a button 11 that is provided on the outer face of the adjacent end of the waistband section of the rear panel. The adjacent or corresponding side edges of the panel, when the panels are brought into face to face relation to one another, are fully detachably coupled to each other by zippers 12, which includes tape strips 13 and 14 that are stitched to the adjacent edges of the panels and each of these tapes has a row of individual teeth which when coupled to the teeth of the other tape, interlock with one another. These teeth are interlocked or uncoupled as may be desired by movement of a slide 15. These zippers are well known in the art, and therefore a detailed description of their construction and operation will not be given.

The slide 15 is provided with a handle 16 which is pivoted to the slide so as to swing through approximately above or below the slide, and lie fiat against the tape ends that limit its swinging motion. The slides 15 of the types which are used for this purpose have a builtin lock which normally engages with the teeth of one of the tapes to limit travel of the slide along the tapes, and this lock is rendered ineffective by the handle, when the handle is pulled outwardly in a direction somewhat normal to the faces of the tapes 13 and 14 or making substantial angles thereto. The handle can be operated to release the lock by an outward pull on it after it is away from the flat position against the tapes. Zippers with slides of this type are available in the open market, and therefore their construction is not illustrated and the foregoing description is given merely to indicate the characteristics of the type of slide which should be employed.

The zipper slide 15 is moved upwardly from the lower end of the garment to the waistband when the panels are coupled together and further upward movement of the,

slide 15 is prevented when it reaches a position beneath the adjacent tab 9 at the waistband sections. The tab, when its buttonhole receives the adjacent button 11, holds the handle 16 of the slide in a fiat position against the tapes of the zipper, in either the lower or the upper position of the handle, and therefore the slide handle is held by the tab in a locked position, so that a pull on the zipper or the slide will not cause it to become unfastened until after the tabs 9 have been unfastened and moved to release the handles 16 of the slides at each side. The zipper tapes are secured to the panel edges a short distance inwardly from the edges of the panels, and one of the panels may have a marginal flap 17 which extends beyond and beneath the zipper tape on the same panel so that this flap will lie between the coupled zipper tapes and the body of the wearer. This avoids any danger that the zipper may engage with or become hooked to the skin of the wearer as the panels are coupled or uncoupled by movement of the zipper slide.

The rear panel 2 is provided with an elastic waistband section or portion 18 (see Figs. 2 and 3). This elastic section is formed by including within the loop of the hem in a portion of the waistband section, a strip of elastic tape, such as of elastic rubber, which is secured at each end to the ends of the elastic section. The elastic strip is anchored at its ends to the waistband at the ends of the elastic section, while that waistband section and elastic strip are both fully extended so that when released the elastic strip will contract and pull the portion of the waistband through which it extends into a puckered relation. This type of construction is commonly employed in the so-called boxer type undershorts, and therefore details of it have not been illustrated or described.

The panels 1 and 2 may be provided with darts 19 in the upper parts in order to cause the upper part of the garment to converge slightly and fit more closely over the hips of the wearer.

A supporter element 20 (see Fig. 7) is disposed within this garment, and it includes a front section 21 and a rear section 22. The front section 21 is formed of a strip of knitted fabric 23, one end of which is secured to the front panel in proximity to the waistband portion 7. This strip 23 tapers convergingly away from its attachment to the waistband 7, and at its other end carries a knitted fabric pouch 24. The fabric of this pouch has its major stretch lengthwise of the element and has a fullness 25 to form a pocket. An elastic cord 20a is provided in a hem 26 of strip 23 which extends from the attachment of section 21 to the waistband of the front panel 1 along both sides of the strip 23, including the pouch 24. The cord is applied while stretched so as to contract and form somewhat of a pocket in the pouch section 24. Two knitted straps 27 and 28 are attached, side by side, to the hem 26 at the lower end of the pouch section 24, and extend in a divergent relation therefrom, with their free ends attached to the waistband section of the rear panel 2 at opposite ends of the elastic section 18. of the waistband. Thus, when the elastic section of the waistband section is stretched or contracts, it merely carries the divergent ends of the straps 27 and 28 apart or together and does not materially affect the function of the supporter element.

The supporter element has a length somewhat less than the dimension of the garment measured from the waistband section of one panel to that of the other through the crotch, so that the supporter element will be, in effect, suspended within the garment slightly above the crotch. Since the supporter element is attached only at its ends to the garment, this does not interfere with the coupling and uncoupling of the zipper and the application of the garment to the body or its removal fromthe body.

It will be understood that various changes in the details, materials and arrangements of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principal and scope of the invention, as expressed in the appended claim.

I claim:

A bathing garment for men of the type called trunks having its upper end terminating at about the waist of the wearer, and which can be put on or removed from the wearer under other garments, which comprises front and rear body panels which are connected with one another at their lower ends through the crotch portion to form a one-piece garment, and are otherwise separate, the upper end edge of each panel being formed as a waistband section, the waistband section of the rear panel having, approximately at its center, an elastic portion which resiliently contracts that portion of that waistband section, means detachably coupling together the adjacent sides of the panels to form a tubular portion encircling the body of the wearer at the thighs, a supporter element disposed within the garment and having one end attached to the inside face of the front panel at approximately the waistband section of that panel, a pouch approximately centrally of its length, and the other end forked, with the arms of the fork connected to the inside face of the rear panel adjacent the waistband section thereof, at opposite ends of said elastic portion, so that the supporter will not be disturbed materially in its position by the stretching and release of said elastic portion, said pouch being of knitted fabric which is resiliently stretchable lengthwise of the supporter element.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,986,792 Calvo Jan. 8, 1935 1,995,531 Bachelis Mar. 26, 1935 2,072,184 Rheinauer Mar. 2, 1937 2,191,169 KatZ Feb. 20, 1940 2,305,304 Pescara Dec. 15, 1942 2,534,024 Hochbaum Dec. 12, 1950 2,624,336 Hansley Ian. 6, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 128,558 Australia July 28, 1948 

